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The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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General Kenneth Nichols and the Manhattan Project
Nichols
The Oak Ridger has published the latest in a series of articles about General Kenneth D. Nichols, the Manhattan Project, and the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. The series has been produced by Nichols’ grandniece Barbara Rogers Scollin and Oak Ridge (Tenn.) city historian David Ray Smith. Gen. Nichols (1907–2000) was the district engineer for the Manhattan Engineer District during the Manhattan Project.
As Smith and Scollin explain, Nichols “had supervision of the research and development connected with, and the design, construction, and operation of, all plants required to produce plutonium-239 and uranium-235, including the construction of the towns of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Richland, Washington. The responsibility of his position was massive as he oversaw a workforce of both military and civilian personnel of approximately 125,000; his Oak Ridge office became the center of the wartime atomic energy’s activities.”
Daniel B. Bullen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 113 | Number 1 | January 1996 | Pages 29-45
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35197
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A mathematical model to predict the cumulative failure distribution for the containment barrier system (CBS) employed in a deep geologic disposal facility is presented as a function of near-field environmental conditions expected at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. The model can address the effects of container design, areal power density, and dominant heat transfer mode on the cumulative container failure distribution. This model has been employed to describe the performance of the CBS as one part of a risk-based performance assessment of the Yucca Mountain site. The model employs Weibull and exponential distributions to describe container failures. Parameter values employed in the model are based on simple, time-dependent, mechanistic models and relevant corrosion data, which describe failure of individual components of the CBS as a function of environmental conditions. The relative importance of container design with respect to predicted container performance is demonstrated through comparison of the results for three candidate container designs. The best container performance was noted for the conduction-dominant heat transfer mode at an areal power density of 114 kW/acre for all container designs. Calculations for the titanium-clad, Alloy C-4 container design suggest that significant improvements in container performance may be achieved through the use of very high-performance alloys. The performance of the multipurpose container (MPC) design at the high areal power density (114 k W/acre) was only slightly better than the Alloy 825, single-barrier design. This was due to the potential deleterious effect of high-temperature oxidation on the carbon steel outer barrier of the MPC design.